People go to events for two main reasons: 1) to connect with business through networking, and 2) to learn something new they can use to work more efficiently and get better results.
You can take advantage of both situations to generate content ideas.
Use the speakers
I had a very engaged group at my session yesterday. Many had started the conversation with me before coming to the session -- through this blog and on Twitter, as well as in person.
Those in attendance had the opportunity to help define the content of the talk by asking questions and sharing their ideas. The speaker provides thought starters up front, and defines the question.
The people who want to be in the room can tap into the collective knowledge, including that of the speaker, by participating.
Which is why I spent 30 minutes of my session proving thought starters, and the remaining 30 answering questions. And we had excellent questions from the group.
The big idea here is to use the speakers as a source and bounce ideas off them. Most speakers I have met are very generous with what they know.
Use the networking
When I meet people and start talking about their projects and work, I get a ton of ideas about content.
Conversations about problems common to the industry, or specific issues are excellent starting points for articles or posts.
Often, there are also open questions you can answer more at length with a blog post. If I were on the famous elevator or escalator ride with a CEO, I would ask her what keeps her up at night, then write my take on tackling the issue.
The big idea here is that networking doesn't stop when the person is gone. You can bridge offline and online.
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What do you find most challenging when it comes to utilizing events to develop content for work?
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I think alike, for example social media (in any form, be it the community around your blog, or around your Facebook page, or on Twitter) can be an excellent way to engage before and after a conference with people you know will attend it, speakers included.
Some people uniquely network offline, some uniquely online, although I am leaning slightly towards the latter, I do understand the mix of the two is the real winning outcome.
Posted by: Gabriele Maidecchi | March 15, 2011 at 07:36 AM
The thing I used to find challenging was so many ideas, so many people talking, etc. Now, I jot ideas down into my phones notepad app so that I can come back to it later. Before, I used to think it was rude but at most conferences everyone's looking at their phone Tweeting and checking in on Foursquare anyway so I figure I'm good :-)
Posted by: Ricardo Bueno | March 15, 2011 at 01:24 PM
You know what's even better than being on an elevator with a CEO? How about being on a cruise ship with a CEO. Seriously, I have attended several events, not all of them on marketing cruises and I always am able to network with new people, and I usually have more ideas than I can handle. Great Job! - Chad
Posted by: Chad Nicely | March 20, 2011 at 08:28 PM